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Copyright 1905, by 
WAMEE ANTHONY ROSS. 



Th9 Page Printing Co. ^Si|» Fort Wayne. Ind 



DEDICATED TO 

STRUGGLING HUMANITY. 



THE ONLY WAY. 



One hundred and twenty-nine years ago our fathers laid 
the corner-stone, then anchored deep, and cemented fast 
with their tears and blood into the bed-rock of EQUALITY, 
the foundations of a nation. A mighty temple has been 
erected thereupon, which, in spite of storm, in spite of flood, 
stands to-day the proudest, grandest edifice the world has 
ever seen. 

We need not speak here of the perils that have threat- 
ened, of the suffering and privation entailed to ward off de- 
struction; of the blood of our noblest sons and the tears of 
our truest daughters shed as a ransom for the greatness and 
glory of the flag we love, We need not tell how our land 
was racked and rocked by the horrors of civil strife, and 
how, after years of misery and blood, we again resumed 
work a united people, purged of the barbaric curse of sla- 
very. What we do need particularly to do, is to focus our 
attention on the present, and take heed what may befall in 
the future. 

All of you, my fellow men, regardless of your age, your 
condition or your station in life, who love honesty, decency, 



6 THE ONLY WAY. 

equality and freedom -give ear. I have something of inter- 
est to tell you, I speak to you with boldness, having no ob- 
ject in view but our welfare and the true betterment and 
happiness of mankind. 

This is a corrupt age, and it's growing worse each day. 
If something is not done, and that soon — something more 
than has come to light recently — to check the damnable cur- 
rent, may the great Lord have mercy on us. 

Let the public awake! The time for indifference has 
passed. Let every man cast his eyes about him for the sake 
of his loved ones, himself, and for the sake of those to 
come. Let us save ourselves before the awful hour con- 
fronts us, when nothing but bloodshed can break the 
shackles of slavery from our limbs. The Devil works while 
we sleep. 

We believe in law and order. We believe in every man, 
great or small, obeying the law. We believe in free gov- 
ernment and in the grand principles our flag symbolizes. But 
we hate tyrrany and tyrants. We hate oppression. We ab- 
hor slavery and serfdom in any form, 

I appeal to you in the name of our God! I appeal to you 
in the name of humanity ! I appeal to you in the name of 
the stars and stripes! I appeal to you, both men and wo- 
men, in the name of your children, and in the name of pos- 
terity ! I appeal to you in the name of honesty, of purity 
and of the general good! And if all these do not suffice, I 



THE ONLY WAY. 7 

appeal to you in the name of your own selfish interests — 
AWAKE! OBSERVE! and THINK! The time is ripe for a 
great reformation, both politically and socially— the greatest 
reform the world has ever known. 

What is our situation politically? Simply this. We are 
at the mercy of a lot of dishonest, corrupt, thieving politi- 
cians, who put on great airs at the expense of the people 
whose interests they are sworn to subserve. Many of them, 
and all too frequently a majority of them, are willing to and 
do sell themselves body and soul to the highest bidder. They 
traffic in our interests as though they were mere merchan- 
dise, and the title vested solely in themselves. They loot us 
on every hand, and we, poor, miserable vassals, the slaves of 
mistaken glory, money and social position, toady to the 
thieves and dare not open our cowardly mouths. What a 
condition! But I say to you, thieves, tremble when you look 
on your ill gotten gains. You big thieves, who defy all the 
laws of fairness and government, and reduce to serfdom 
your fellow creatures, take heed. And you, little thieves, 
and you oily tongued politicians, who palaver over the dear, 
sweet public while you sell them out — beware! God will 
raise up mighty and fearless men to guard and care for the 
interests of His people. 

If there be any man within reading distance of these 
lines who loves his fellows, who loves true man and woman- 
hood, who loves his country, who loves fairness, righteous- 



8 THE ONLY WAY. 

ness and truth, let him come forth. His countrymen and 
mankind at large have need of him. You are a man. No 
man can be more than that. 

In considering these great and stupendous questions, be 
calm, steadfast and determined. Flee from passion and ex- 
tremes. Be not rash. You can well afford to give a little 
time and a little labor to the great cause of humanity, re- 
membering that we are all brothers, that the good of one is 
for the good of all, and that the best government is that 
which works the greatest good to the greatest number. Be 
not luke warm in your opposition to corruption and rotten- 
ness. He who fights in the interests of mankind is engaged 
in a noble work. He who struggles in the cause of right is 
engaged in a struggle that will bring him more true happi- 
ness than all the money he could steal. Remember always 
that "By their fruits ye shall know them." 

We reek our vengeance on the poor, wretched, starving, 
misguided fiend who steals to satisfy his bodily needs; who 
has neither money nor pull, while the big thief successfully 
blocks our timid efforts by the power of his plunder over us, 
and goes about with a high head, and no man dares raise his 
voice. 

Our jails and work-houses are for the poor. I tell you 
what you all know. Two men go out on a tear. One is a 
wealthy, influential libertine and scoundrel. The other a 
poor and friendless bum. They both disturb the peace, and 
let us say they both fall into the ditch. A policeman hails a 



THE ONLY WAY. 9 

cab and sees the wealthy man to his home, his club or to a 
hotel. The bum in the shabby attire is kicked all the way to 
the police station, and for weeks he labors at the rock-pile 
to pay his fine. Correct! He ought to labor at the rocks. 
But what of the other parasite, with the dough and the 
pull? 

What of the rag-a- muffin who is caught shooting craps 
in an alley at a penny a pass, and with much ado and much 
noise is carried to the station and thrown into jail or the re- 
form school, while society women gamble for big stakes un- 
molested? "Justice! Justice! Where art thou flown V 

Why is it that the big thieves all stand in together and 
say, "To h — with the people's interests?" I say, people, 
in the name of your interests, come forth! You who are 
poor, despise not those who have because they have, if they 
came by it honestly and use it honestly. You all should lay 
by for a rainy day and for the virtuous needs of your fami- 
lies, but let your righteous indignation and scorn burn 
against those who rob the state, who give and take bribes, 
who rob men in a pinch, who rob and defraud widows and 
orphans, and those who in any way use their gold to crush 
and oppress you, and to corrupt your fellows. In the ab- 
sence of evidence, it can do no harm to keep an eye on those 
who have over much. 

This liberty and equality, that by right is ours, is the re- 
sult of centuries of struggle, of suffering, and of blood. It 
never came by chance. It was wrested from oppressors and 



10 THE ONLY WAY. 

tyrants only by the courage and lives of thousands of honest, 
determined men. 

Let your mind wander down through the troublesome 
ages, 'til it rests on the picture of a half-starved camp, 
shivering and freezing in the long bleak winter. Soldiers 
starving, but still fighting for the cause of mankind; suffer- 
ing, but staying to endure and to die for the sake of their 
loved ones, and us who came after. Those giants in rags at 
Valley Forge! Our own! God bless them! Our own brave 
fathers. 

What true American but feels a thrill as he looks on the 
flag our heroes gave us? What true man but loves the great 
principles it symbolizes? And what man but reveres the 
memory of those who struggled and gave their lives that 
those principles might be applied and live. 

I call on all honest men to witness that we are confronted 
by a greater peril; we are enslaved by a more greedy power; 
we, as a people, are threatened with a more deadly curse 
than were our fathers on the field of battle. Am I an 
alarmist? Yes, when there is cause for alarm. And before 
I get through I'll alarm every decent, honest man, woman 
and child to such an extent that it will not be fashionable or 
popular to be a libertine, a thief, or a female of uncertain 
virtue, and I'll not be alone in the mighty work. Every sin- 
cere, law-abiding citizen will array himself on the side of 
right. Let the Devil's own show the cloven hoof. Ah! would 
to God that we all might depart from our misdirected, un- 



THE ONLY WAY. 11 

availing fight for happiness and pleasure, for when health is 
gone or death stares us hard in the face, where is the desire 
for those worldly curses our coveted money can buy? Or, 
well and strong, what happiness does it bring to take ad- 
vantage of, or to wrong and oppress our fellows ? 

On the other hand, did you ever go out and do a truly 
good and unselfish act, with no other motive than to help one 
of God's creatures who needed help? Think about it. How 
did you feel? Did you ever come to your senses in the morn- 
ing with a bust-head and painful memories, feeling any bet- 
ter? "Wisdom"— Old Pal— "Wisdom calls to you from the 
house-tops." Why stop your ears? I didn't read all this 
in books. Why should I, when human nature is the same to- 
day, and has been through . all the ages the same as it was 
almost six thousand years ago ? 

The trust or monopoly problem can no longer be regard- 
ed as a joke. It comes home to each and every one of us. 
A few men, a mere handful, control the great bulk of the 
money of the world. We have in this country a few trusts 
and a f ew men that have all of us absolutely at their mercy. 
Who can compete with, or who can prevail against them? 
Certainly no individual or no group of individuals, no one less 
than the people as a people. This is not only true of our 
food, but of just about everything we use and do. 

And why, pray tell me, should the great American na- 
tion, the American people, or any other people, submit to 
such a state of affairs? By what right, or by what author- 



12 THE ONLY WAY. 

ity, do these monsters levy tribute upon us? By what au- 
thority do they run us out of business and hold us in utter 
subjection? What benefits ensue to counteract, if such 
could be, the shame of our slavery? We speak of the regu- 
lation of prices by the law of supply and demand. Such 
used to be the case and ought to be now, but every well 
posted man knows that one small group has the power to, 
and does dictate at what price the farmer, for instance, 
must sacrifice his live stock, and at the same time dictate 
arbitrarily what tribute the consumer must pay on his meat. 
The railroads charge two prices for transportation, and the 
public has to stand for the whole affair. The meat we use 
is only one instance. Everything else is cornered and con- 
trolled in the same way. 

In the olden times, kings claimed to rule by divine right ; 
their power was absolute ; their word was law. If, per- 
chance, I in any way offended his or her majesty it needed 
only a word or a gesture from the all-powerful, and my life 
ended without further ado. They not only had all power, 
but they claimed to have it from God, and the trembling 
subject durst not gainsay it, and the overwhelming majority 
of ignorant, toiling slaves, for such they were, believed it . 
What a stumbling-block to the brotherhood of man ! 

But did the fact that these greedy, selfish monsters 
claimed this right make it right? Did the ignorance and 
fearful submission of the subjects justify it? What say you, 
free born Americans? It is only as a result of centuries of 



THE ONLY WAY. 18 

struggle and blood, and the sacrifice of thousands of noble 
lives in the cause of equality and manhood, that we have our 
grand United States, which we all so justly love. 

They tell us that we must be exceedingly cautious lest 
we interfere with the liberties and rights of these greedy 
oppressors. Why, pray tell, should we be so timid and slow 
to assert our rights? Has any man the audacity to tell us 
that we, the people, in whom as a people is vested all power, 
have not the right to, or should not object to being robbed, 
plundered and enslaved? Has he the nerve to tell us that 
we should not demand, and see to it that our liberties and 
rights are respected? Is there any name in the universe 
whereby any man, or body of men, have a right to enslave 
or coerce us ? 

If I do something detrimental to the public good, or in 
some way interfere with a man's freedom and his rights, I 
am, or ought to be, punished. If I have not money or pull 
in liberal quantity the chances are that I will be punished. 
If I have plenty of both I can, as a rule, wrong my fellows 
with impunity. The simple principle of the whole thing is 
that I must not do anything detrimental to the public's in- 
terests. The only true power is the will of a majority of all 
the people. In a free government, if it is to be in truth a 
free government, the majority must rule, not only in theory, 
but in fact. Now, if eighty millions of people are being 
hoodwinked and cheated by a mere handful, where does the 
free government come in? What ought the will of that 
handful to be, compared to the will of eighty millions? The 



14 THE ONLY WAY. 

fountain source of the whole thing is in the money the hand- 
ful possesses, and the power of that money to corrupt both 
us and our representatives all along the line. 

There are laws enough on our statute books today to 
wipe out the great bulk of our troubles in this particular, if 
they were enforced. And if these laws, perchance, did not 
cover every scheme to loot us, it would not take long for the 
men we trust and pay to represent us and look out for our 
interests, to make laws that would cover the case, if these 
men were in truth and deed as they are in theory and talk, 
the representatives of the people and the people's interests. 

When we sift the whole matter down we find that the 
land is full of dishonest and greedy people trying to get 
something for nothing, and perfectly willing to strain a 
point to get the best of a fellow man. And so long as this 
is the case it will be hard to do much in the way of legisla- 
tion that will give any noticeable or permanent relief. And 
while so many of us— the bulk of us— are busy worshiping 
the almighty dollar, and willing to defraud the public and 
fleece and cheat our neighbor on a small scale, we make a 
poor spectacle when we talk about those with the opportun- 
ity and the brain not robbing us on a big scale. 

Suppose I were to ask you why it is necessary that the 
great public utilities, things that must be centralized under 
one head, should be owned by a few and controlled by two 
or three and often hj one individual. We are the dupes of a 
system which we have allowed to ensnare us. Why should 



THE ONLY WAY. 15 

the public sell or give away its birthright, or pay promoters 
and corporations to put us at their mercy? 

Why should we pay tribute to make multi-millionaires of 
a few ? Those few who thrive under the present system will 
say you have no right to dictate as to how much a man 
shall make or what he shall do with his property. I say that 
we can cease allowing ourselves to be pillaged, and can 
cease paying the tributes that enable a few to turn whole 
towns into private estates, or dictate directly or indirectly 
the policy of the government and the quality of legislation, 
national, state and municipal. When a man violates all the 
fundamental laws, and ignores all the principles of free gov- 
ernment, and makes himself a burden to us, by dictating ar- 
bitrarily what we must take for our produce or our labor , 
how we must conduct our business, and what tribute we 
must pay for all the necessaries and luxuries of life, then we 
must, if we have any respect for ourselves and any love for 
mankind, destroy the means by which he amasses this un- 
told wealth and wields this unendurable power over us. But 
before we can make much headway we're going to have to 
learn to put the premium on manhood rather than wealth, 
for so long as money means more to us than character, we 
can make but a feeble fight against its power; so long as we 
put the stamp of our indifference or approval upon pull or 
graft instead of upon real personal merit, we're playing into 
the hands of the enemy. 

Why, if, as you will say, it is economical, convenient 
and necessary that these great institutions -railroads, tele- 



16 THE ONLY WAY. 

graphs, express, postal service, street railways, gas and 
electric light plants, etc., etc. — be monopolized or central- 
ized under one head. Why, in the name of heaven, should 
they not be so centralized that we, the people, who do the 
work, who pay the cost, who are obliged to use and main- 
tain these public affairs, may get some of the benefits and 
have a voice as to how our affairs shall be conducted? Why 
not the public have the advantage of all these things at a 
reasonable price, and at the same time pay decent wages to 
the men who do the work? This would keep the money, that 
now goes into the coffers of the magnates, where it belongs 
— with the people at large. It would dispense with strikes 
by paying labor good wages, and save us the humiliation 
and disgrace of shooting down our fellow men merely be- 
cause they demand a fair share of the profits that are rolling 
into the greedy clutches of a moneyed aristocracy. And of 
what benefit are these parasitical, tribute-levying nabobs to 
a republic, anyway? The brains that invented, planned and 
engineered these facilities are not the brains that levy the 
tribute. People, we've been easy! 

Now, you ask if I believe in government and municipal 
ownership of public utilities. Certainly I do, and so do you 
deep down in your hearts. But, if you ask me if I believe 
it would be generally practical at the present time, I must 
answer that it ought to be, and I do favor it, as the lesser 
of two evils ; but others, with good grounds for their reason- 
ing, will say that there is already too much corruption in 
public affairs. And, is it not a pretty pass when the strong- 



THE ONLY WAY. 17 

est argument that can be brought forward against public 
ownership is that the people are not fit to administer their 
own affairs? 

The fact that the plunderers and extortioners of the 
masses would be exceedingly sloth to give up their powers is 
of small moment to us. Are not absolute monarchs and ty- 
rants very much averse to giving up their titles and powers, 
also? But when we are forced to admit that we, as a peo- 
ple, would not be able to run our own affairs to our own in- 
terests, then it is high time to wake up and consider the 
reason. It is sad to reflect that almost every city in our 
land is at the mercy of a gang of boodlers and thieves. 

We have allowed ourselves to be tricked and outwitted 
by crafty magnates and politicians, hence we must shoulder 
our share of the blame. For example, we have been idle 
and passive while capitalists have flooded our land with the 
scum of the earth, in order that they might weaken the 
power and destroy the rights of American laboring men. By 
importing said ignorant and misguided scum, in order to pay 
labor their own price, they have filled their ungodly coffers 
and brought a menace upon our nation. 

What is the cause of all this public fraud, and why is it 
possible that it can continue? These thieves come from our 
own midsts. It is hard and sorrowful to realize that we 
can't trust all of our public servants, but it is equally sor- 
rowful to realize that most of us can't trust each other 
where a cent or more is involved. All this in our great en- 



18 THE ONLY WAY. 

lightened republic in the twentieth century. It takes little 
hogs to make big hogs, and big thieves grow from little 
thieves. And now the big hogs and thieves are devouring 
the little hogs and thieves, and the honest men along v/ith 
them. We've all got to dance to the big, successful and 
lucKy thief's music. And if we want to breed lawlessness 
in the poor, if we want to create a class hatred not to be 
smiled at, if we want to make a clear track for assassination 
and bloodshed, all we need to do is to let things go and lie 
supinely on our backs, bluffed or lulled to sleep by the 
threats or the smooth talk these powerful moneyed extor- 
tioners are able to feed us upon. Everybody's business 
seems, of late years, to be nobody's business. 

I am well aware that we'd have trouble any way we 
fixed it, with conditions and people as they are now. There- 
fore, I say that the root and fountain head of all our troubles 
lies either in the indifference, inexcusable ignorance, negli- 
gence, selfishness, deception, participation, timidity, crim- 
inal optimism, fear of contradiction, the love of glory and 
money, flightiness, or the depravity of a vast number of the 
units that make up the government. There are hundreds, 
thousands and millions of good, honest lovers of righteous- 
ness. These must assert themselves; they must take a 
stand, otherwise the hope of any general or lasting reform 
is in vain. I believe that the average American citizen loves 
truth and justice, that he has a desire to do right, but owing 
to the prevailing deception as to what it is that is most con- 



THE ONLY WAY. 19 

ducive to the true happiness and welfare of mankind, and 
owing* to the general apathy on these questions, we have be- 
come ensnared, handicapped and hoodwinked to such an ex- 
tent that we no longer feel free to assert ourselves. Man- 
ners and customs and the general conceptions are too much 
for us. I believe that the great bulk of the American peo- 
ple, and the people of the world, are still being victimized 
by power and money seekers, the crafty, the selfish, and the 
rich. It is this belief that impels me to dedicate my life 
and feeble powers to the service of mankind. 

We must study the situation as it exists and is, and 
must study mankind as he and she really are, rather than as 
we think they ought to be. Not every one knows what goes 
on, not every one is on the inside, so to speak; but enough 
comes to light, enough is made public, to enable any think- 
ing person to realize, at least to some extent, what condi- 
tions actually are. 

People, as a whole, are very much like a flock of sheep; 
its a game of -'follow the leader" on a big scale. This may 
or may not be a good thing. For example, our styles in 
dress or fads of any kind that happen to strike us. Our 
ways of looking at things change greatly; not all of a sud- 
den, of course, but gradually. To illustrate, let us take an 
example that we can all agree upon. 

Not so many years ago, if a young man in what we call- 
ed our better classes of society went out on a drunk or de- 
bauch, and his crowd found it out, he was no longer popular. 



20 THE ONLY WAY. 

The girls no longer blessed him with their smiles, and the 
boys and men did not take his part or justify his course, to 
any noticeable degree. In order to be looked up to and re- 
spected by his set, and by people in general, a young man 
had to be decent or, if he was not decent, he had to be pow- 
erfully careful that he was not found out. 

To-da}', what do we find? I'll tell you, for I know as 
well as anyone, and my knowledge covers all classes from 
rich to poor, and from church people to infidels and scoffers. 
The boy or man who used to be abhorred and shunned as a 
worthless bum and a disgrace to himself and friends, has 
now— mark me — has now become a shining light in society. 
His immorality is no barrier, if he has money and backing. 
He is now a ' 'good fellow. ' ' The young women and girls 
look on him as deliciously entertaining. He is just wild 
enough to be interesting. They actually look up to the rake 
as though he had done something great. A sort of roman- 
tic naughtiness hovers in the atmosphere about him that is 
charming. He can be just as tough as he likes and his little 
''times," as we call them, are either admired or winked at. 

Our girls have a powerful influence over our young men, 
and if a boy or a man can add to his popularity and enhance 
his charm with the bulk of the fair sex by being ' 'one of the 
boys," he is very apt to take advantage of the opportunity. 
And being "one of the boys" now-a-days means most any- 
thing, depending only on how far the party in question has 
advanced on the road to hell. Where young women used to 



THE ONLY WAY. 21 

abhor the boy or man who would become intoxicated, and 
commit the crimes that go with intoxication— God help us! — 
they go with them now, many, very many, to the boozing; 
and, if the prospects are good for keeping it quiet, many go 
farther. "Constant dripping wears the rock away .' ' I'm 
speaking of what we call our better class, especially in the 
cities. But a greater moral laxness pervades every class 
and every section each year. Those of you who without 
hypocrisy can rebel at this truth are getting scarce. When 
an imp of hell once gets his fangs fastened in one part of a 
character, we can by no means be certain that another imp 
won't sink his claws in another place, 

A mother's influence over her child can not be over esti- 
mated. What shall we say when so many of our women and 
girls, who are to be the mothers, are sadly tainted? What 
can we expect of the offspring? 

It has long been acknowledged, and rightly so, that the 
back-bone of a free government is its homes. What of a 
government where thousands of homes are shattered each 
year by divorce? And, what of the awful ungodly force 
that exists in our midsts to give rise to so many of its fruits 
coming to light? What, pray consider, is the ratio of the 
crimes discovered to those that are committed and not dis- 
covered? And, consider further, what is the ratio of those 
crimes brought to publicity in the courts to those that are 
suspected and really known, which are either put up with or 
made the best of, or are offset by retaliation? When you 



22 THE ONLY WAY. 

commit a crime are you not very careful that it be kept a 
secret? What is the proportion of discoveries to the number 
of crimes committed these days, especially this sort of 
crime? Divorce may be sometimes granted on other grounds, 
but almost invariably this matter is behind it. If all this is 
the case among the wedded, what would you consider to be 
the case among the unwedded? Those who are at all fa" 
miliar with humanity to-day, don't have to get at the facts 
by comparisons or indisputable ratios, they can see this most 
awful curse in all its deadly, threatning hideousness, staring 
them in the face at every turn. Money and social standing 
usually conceal it, but among an appallingly large class no 
attempt at concealment is made. Any age or a nation that 
tolerates or ignores these conditions is in grave peril of 
many direful calamities. 

But those who abide in glass houses are not apt to throw 
stones at others. It may be that this thought throws some 
light on the extreme quietude that prevails in these matters. 
If everyone threw a rock where he ought to, and could 
rightly throw one, the air would be darkened with flying 
missiles, There wouldn't be enough of us alive and able- 
bodied to bury the dead and care for the wounded, and with 
so many houses of glass there wouldn't be enough shelter to 
keep us dry, while all the wagons in the world would be 
years in hauling away the fragments of crystal. In most of 
our cities, especially the larger ones, there would be few 
panes standing on end, and the Lots and their families 
wouldn't form a very large mob. Comparatively numerous 



THE ONLY WAY. 23 

would be the pillars of salt marking their line of exit. On 
the other hand, if we waited for him who is without sin to 
throw the first stone, few would be wounded. 

We have come to be such a broad minded and tolerant 
age. and we are so especially tolerant of these works of the 
Devil which are burrowing under the foundations of our 
homes and government. The distant rumble of aversion to 
republican form of government grows louder, but still we 
sleep. 

You tell me by way of apology for, or endorsement of 
all this misery and trouble-breeding rottenness, "Gh, well it 
takes all kinds of people to make a world!" That is the 
thinnest statement the Devil ever got up. As an argument, 
it is disgusting to any lover of truth and goodness who will 
stop to think. But what a consolation such statements are 
to the half-hearted, and what an antidote they are for the 
finer, nobler feelings that more or less often come to the 
surface in all of our breasts. 

We have touched but lightly on this great problem— the 
social evil, as it is called; the necessary evil, as one phase of 
it is often regarded. Necessary? God forbid that we as a 
people have really come to look upon our greatest, most 
threatning, and dangerous curse as necessary. If humanity 
is so degraded that it is content or glad to accept this rea- 
soning, then by all that is good and holy let us go to work 
on humanity and lift it out of the ditch. "It takes all kinds 
of people to make a world. ' ' Well, we have them, and we 



24 THE ONLY WAY. 

have a pretty tough world so far as our doings can affect it, 
with untold suffering and misery everywhere. But, just so 
sure as the sun shines, it takes good people and only good 
people to make a good world, a just world, and a happy 
world. 

As to strong drink and intemperance — the stepping-stone 
to crime. Let us be thankful that so many of our people are 
beginning to realize its heinousness. We have seen so much 
of its awful work, that common sense readily tells us it is 
not profitable either to the victim or to the community 
Neither it nor the drug habit can ever be overcome through 
politics; for, just so sure as there is a demand there will al- 
ways be found a means of supply. The only safe, perma- 
nent, sure and reasonable way to wipe out this curse, this 
stepping-stone and auxiliary to crime of all kinds, is to wipe 
out the demand, and this can only be done successfully by 
appealing to and awakening the common sense, the reason, 
and the better natures of the masses— the individuals who 
make up the masses, 

The general laxness in what we call polite society is con- 
ducive to much evil. There is entirely too mueh freedom 
and familiarity between males and females, both old and 
young, especially young. A large, very large class of our 
girls and women are entirely too vain, flighty and frivolous. 
Society and social duties receive altogether to much atten- 
tion. Their time is occupied with things that are profitable 
neither to themselves nor to others. A large percent are 
too busy doing nothing to be mothers, and those who are 



THE ONLY WAY. 25 

mothers are too much occupied to devote anything like proper 
attention to their children or child. The result is very often 
a flighty, spoiled, head-strong offspring. Many a man works 
himself into his grave trying to gratify a host of frivolous 
vanities and false, unprofitable ambitions, that are nothing 
but a stimulant to sin and misery, and a disgusting barrier 
to the brotherhood of man. 

Too much attention to dress, too much false adornment 
of self, luxury, idleness, vanity, longing for selfish diversion 
and amusement, an overwhelming desire to be "It"— to 
shine everywhere but in the right place. What workshops 
for the Devil! But the women are no more to to blame than 
the men. Of what profit is the whole rotten institution, 
worldly or spiritually? If we expect to have the right sort 
of citizens in the future, me must devote some time to the 
child question now. The best place to work on the child is 
in the home, and the best ones to work on him are the father 
and mother— especially the mother. 

Oh, what a blessing to humanity is a pure and noble wo- 
man! What a priceless jewel is a true and faithful wife! 
What a crown of glory is a real mother! Many a heart 
breaks when a girl or a woman falls. And surely the angels 
weep at that saddest of all misfortunes. 

Men, if we have any regard for the present or future of 
humanity, we must guard and protect our women. Gad help 
us, that our influence may be good over other men's wives, 
daughters and sweethearts, as well as over our own. And, 



26 THE ONLY WAY. 

girls, by your actions, your words, and your thoughts, keep 
us far from temptation. Dabbling with fire doesn't pay. A 
truly pure girl is safe in the company of all but a very few, 
provided she does not linger too long, I don't believe such a 
girl would linger long, but if she must be subject to such 
conditions, let her not underestimate the power of time and 
association, for none of us get bad all at once, but gradually, 
step by step. If the mind and heart are kept pure and 
sound the germs of sin can't work, for they, like other 
things, require some nourishment. 

Don't be fooled by the glare and glitter, or the outward 
beauty and show. All true joy and all real happiness comes 
from within. You know that, but if you have grown skept- 
ical, try it. There are many to bear witness, that "The wa- 
ges of sin is death. ' ' 

Let us pause for a moment to think of a well known ex- 
ample—Nero. As an embodiment of all that is rotten, he is 
conceded to have been an excellent example. Do you envy 
the happiness of that all-powerful pagan? Do you crave for 
&uch a cowardly and inglorious death? Are you jealous of 
his notoriety? I hope not. But, bless us, if there aren't 
those who are so deceived that they are virtually devoured 
by a thirst for prominence. Notoriety! Sweet food for van- 
ity, that evanescent nothing, they must have. 

We all, of course, know more or less of the sin and mis- 
ery, the corruption, poverty and suffering that is. I have 
called a few things to your minds in a general way, for 



THE ONLY WAY. 27 

these things are, and no matter what your opinion may be 
as to the degree of the foulness, (it's worse than any of us 
like to think or admit, it's worse than any of us know), you 
all must admit that there is vast, almost limitless room for 
improvement along all lines. And now, the important ques- 
tion that involves us all is, how can we solve these problems? 

We love ths bright side, and yes, indeed, there is a 
bright side. If we didn't love the good, we wouldn't regret 
the bad, We are all more or less responsible for the dark 
side, and if— Heaven forbid it— any of us feel perfect, we 
still can not deny that we owe a duty to our fellows and to 
posterity. 

There are, and always have been, good and noble men. 
It gives us great pleasure and comfort to contemplate their 
lives and deeds. For example, I love to listen to Beethoven's 
"Farewell to the Pianoforte." I hear it time and again; it 
never grows old, and each time I think I like it better. Why? 
It is the out-pouring of a great man's soul. It is the tender, 
powerful expression in music of an almost over whelming 
emotion. The fond caress, the tender farewell to a beloved 
friend; the surging love; the resignation; the hopes of 
greater power, and a final kiss. 'Tis grand, and it lives! 
— but Beethoven is dead. We look at a master-painting by a 
master-painter, with a feeling bordering on awe, for in it 
the man has depicted something of his own soul. 

We love to think of the mighty deeds of Alexander the 
Great, of Hannibal, of Julius Caesar. We contemplate with 



28 THE ONLY WAY. 

admiration and sorrow the mighty and terrible deeds of Na- 
poleon. We gaze with amazement when we picture the dizzy- 
heights to which he climbed from worse than nothing. We 
look again, and behold! that mighty man of the world has 
fallen. He lives in exile on a barren island, far from the 
world and the power he loved. Inspiring and dazzling as 
were his giant strides to greatness, he has come to naught — 
this wonder, whose genius the world admits has never been 
excelled, and they are few who claim he has ever had an 
equal. And yet, from those most dizzy heights of worldly 
greatness to which he had climbed, solely by virtue of his 
own force and genius, he fell to the deepest abyss of humili- 
ation and despair. And, what a fall that was ! It was this 
fallen despot, this impersonation of worldly splendor; mighty 
still, even in that most lonely and irksome exile, who admit- 
ted that there was One. Yes, even Napoleon himself, who 
in his greatness and power had admitted no superiors, did 
there admit and concede that there was One mightier than 
he; One who is able to rule by love, while he had been 
obliged to rule by the sword. And that One was Jesus 
Christ of lowly Nazareth— Jesus Christ the Son of God. 

What shall I say? What can I say? Far be it from me 
to presume to explain the mysteries and glories of our Al- 
mighty Creator. I do not know His ways, neither does any 
other man. I have never seen our God, neither has any 
other man. If we knew all and had seen all, where would 
faith come in? For what have the things we have and see 



THE ONLY WAY. 29 

and know to do with faith, except in so far as they form a 
basis for faith in something we hope for, and look for in the 
future? I have no apologies to make for the Son of God, 
He was not of this world, and the chains of death, which no 
man can escape, had no power over Him. 

Whatever your notions may be, whatever little theories 
you may have accepted or concocted as to the Word of God 
—the Bible — or anything else that our little minds can't 
fathom and were never built to fathom, I propose to show 
you or to call to your attention the remedy for all our 
troubles, and the only remedy, for God gave us but one, and 
He gave us that through Jesus Christ, His only Son. Now, 
let us examine this plan briefly, for it is very simple, and 
then let us see whether it is practical and applicable from a 
common sense standpoint to us of the world. 

I never preached a sermon or made a prayer in public, 
but I have been studying humanity, its wrongs and woes, 
and its needs politically, morally and otherwise, from a prac- 
tical, every-day, horse-sense standpoint, having the end in 
view rather than my own worldly glory, prosperity and van- 
ity. And, pardon me, if I say that I believe that I could 
found a religion or sect, or get up a political agitation, and 
before a great while carry away much people in my own name, 
to my own earthly glorification and enrichment. But who am 
I, or who is any man that he can gainsay the Word of God? 
Who is he that can improve God's plan, and where is he or 
it that can prevail against His will? We can play the hypo- 



80 THE ONLY WAY. 

crite or we can bring ourselves even to that point where we 
believe a lie, but of what profit is such stuff to humanity? 
Besides, of all the contemptible scoundrels, the one who 
swindles people under the guise of religion is the worst, 
What vain little sinners we are! 

I am going to proclaim a fact, and I defy any man on 
God's green foot-stool to deny it from any standpoint, what- 
soever, practical, political, religious, moral, or on what-not 
grounds that the brain of man can formulate or resurrect. 
"There is but one name under Heaven whereby men can be 
saved/' and there is but one way under Heaven in which all 
men can dwell together in peace, equality, harmony and 
happiness, and that is by following the plan that the Al- 
mighty and everlasting God gave us through Jesus Christ, 
and there is but one place to find and stud}?- that glorious 
plan, and that is in the Word of God. 

It is high time that v/e open our eyes, for the day of the 
Lord is at hand. There is but one panacea for all our woes, 
there is but one antidote for all our ills — Christ Jesus, pure 
and simple, Christianity unburdened of all the man-made 
trimmings that we have draped and clustered about His 
glorious name. 

One thing is certain, we, as a nation, can be no better 
than the average goodness of our citizens as a whole, and 
the same applies to the world. Hence we must, in order to 
increase the general welfare, increase the goodness of the 
people all along the line. 



TETE ONLY WAY. 31 

I need not dwell on the beauties of a universal brother- 
hood; I need not speak of the blessing of universal peace 
and good will, of the sorrow averted and the joy increased. 
Oh, blessed day! when all mankind shall live in harmony and 
friendship; when the strong shall help the weak for the pure 
joy of helping them, and the weak in turn shall love the 
strong for the grandeur of their work. 

But in order that all this may be, there must be some- 
thing above and beyond us all, something that we may all 
look up to and hope for in common; something that we all, 
as one, may glory in. And what, my friends, can that be? 
What higher, mightier, grander being can we look to? What 
other can we look to in unison than our Friend who came 
from God and meekly, yet bravely, gave His life for us all. 
He who, though the Son of God, He the Everlasting, who 
has power over life and death, died to save us, and that we, 
through His example, might learn to help and love each oth- 
er. To whom but to Almighty God can all mankind give 
thanks and praise? 

Men, realizing the great benefits of mutual help and 
good will, organize themselves into fraternities and lodges, 
swearing themselves to treat each other as true brothers, 
and much good is the result; but all can not join, as none but 
their choice may belong. Christ gave us a plan that will 
reach all mankind. None is so wicked or so low but he can 
become whole and good. For almost nineteen hundred years 
we have had Christ's teachings, and incalcuable good has 



32 THE ONLY WAY. 

been the result, but we can do much more than we have done 
or are doing. 

You say to me, "We are Christians, we have our own 
churches, are we not doing all we can?" I say to you, no! 
You are doing almost nothing compared to what you might 
do in Christ's name. 

Now, mark me, I am going to tell you something upon 
which hinges the whole glorious scheme. You have got to 
get together! If you are going to christianize the world, if 
you are going to bring all men to Christ, you've got to unite. 
And why not, pray tell? You Christians— so called — have 
been wrangling, quarreling, monopolizing, fighting and kill- 
ing each other for the last sixteen or eighteen hundred 
years. Instead of fighting sin and the Devil in harmony and 
unison, as you ought to do, you've been fighting each other, 
appropriating the glory and wrangling over the spoils. Have 
you not had enough? Is it not high time that you cease such 
vanities and strife? Can you not see that after all these cen- 
turies you are still far from the great end in view? And, as 
for you who have looked on and become disgusted, are you 
going to lay the blame on God and Christianity, and say the 
plan will not work? May God help you to see and lay the 
blame where it belongs— at the feet of vain little man. 

You who call yourselves Christians, what have you in 
common with Christ if you begin by violating the greatest 
commandment? If you ignore the great underlying princi- 
ple He gave us, namely: That you love one another. Do 



THE ONLY WAY. 33 

such vain and selfish advocates expect to win mankind for 
Christ? Have we not been at it long enough to see that 
there is but one God, one Christ, and one religion? 

Why all this quarreling, wrangling, splitting, and fol- 
lowing away after men, if you are Christians? I say to 
you, that before you talk any further about Christianizing 
the world, you had better Christianize yourselves. The fact 
you deck out in your finery, go to a swell church, listen to a 
crowd of hirelings trying to entertain you, and pay atten- 
tion to a lot of fine-haired rot in the way of a sermon, does 
not mean that you are a Christian. Too often it means that 
you are a hypocrite of the rankest sort, and that you are a 
disgrace to the name you profess. Does Christ, who, when 
living as a man on this earth, was the humblest, least pre- 
tentious and poorest of men from a worldly standpoint, does 
He care for your vain trimmings and your aristocracy? What 
say you? All such hypocritical filth is a hindrance to the 
true cause, and the sooner all who are sincere in their desire 
to do the will of the living God, and those who are anxious 
to see right prevail and all men living as they should live, 
get together, get together as one man, with one voice, un- 
der one banner, the better it will be for themselves and for 
the world. 

If you who profess to be Christians are such, or are 
anxious to be true followers of Christ, what possible objec- 
tion can you have to cutting out the man-made part that 
divides you, and joining hands on the Bible, the only book 



34 THE ONLY WAY. 

from which you can truly study the great plan of salvation? 

And I want to call to your attention to the Word of God 
as we have it — the Holy Bible. 'Tis a much neglected book 
these days, even among those who profess Christianity. I 
want to strengthen you who believe in it, and I want you 
who reject it in its entirety or in part, to give some atten- 
tion and thought to the subject, lest it be found that you 
have neglected or rejected the Almighty God. 

It is not necessary for me to roach back my hair, adjust 
my glasses, and assume an attitude of superiority and wis- 
dom while discussing the subject. 'Tis the simplest thing in 
the world to any person who will study it in a purely unprej- 
udiced and unselfish attitude. We need not go back and dig 
up mummies, or tap and tamper around in the Holy Land to 
authenticate its origin. All we need to do is to use a little 
common sense. The teachings of the Bible are as applicable 
to-day as they ever were. Man, with all his boasted advance- 
ment, has not outgrown God's Word. His vain babblings 
about science contradicting it all come to naught. The sci- 
ence dodge of fifty years ago has now become obsolete. 
These so-called scientific theories are continually being dis- 
placed by other scientific theories, but God's Eternal Word 
stands like a mighty rock. What other book approaches it? 
What other book can we look to? What good have we that 
is not embodied therein? Cast it away, and what have you? 
Nothing but idolatry, paganism and blood. 



THE ONLY WAY. 35 

It is said that a little learning is a dangerous thing. And 
Lord Bacon did well when he said, "A little learning tendeth 
to unbelief, but more bringeth us back to religion. ' ' 

What man of common sense, and any eye to the relation 
of things, can help but feel and know that he is a very small 
being, even from a worldly view? And when he sees the sun 
shine and the stars twinkle in incalcuable and appalling 
space, hears the wind blow, and listens to the roar of the 
thunder and of the mighty waves of the deep, sees the won- 
ders of nature, and realizes that death of which no man can 
tell, is his sure end, how can he help but feel and know that 
something far mightier than himself or his kind is above and 
over it all? All people must, and do, acknowledge some- 
thing above themselves, even if it be a thing of metal, stone 
or wood that they blindly make with their own hands. 

Now, be honest little man, what theory can you hatch 
up, or how can you enlighten or explain the whole great 
matter in a more sensible or comforting way than I find it 
explained in the Bible? What if your finite brain is dazzled 
and puzzled at the glory of God, or what if your worldly ex- 
periences do not enable you to grasp and explain all the 
mysteries there are? That is only additional proof that it is 
of God, and not of worldly origin. 

On the other hand, if it were the function of man to ex- 
plain the mysteries of God and eternity, and to point the way 
to places he knows nothing of, except he gets it directly or 
indirectly from the Bible, think you, if man was the high 



36 THE ONLY WAY. 

and mighty, that I in my vanity would be a follower of you, 
or that I would accept without proofs, (and there can be no 
proofs of things we know nothing of) ; think you, I say, that 
I would swallow all you imagined and schemed out in your 
small cranium? Most assuredly not. I would concoct a high- 
sounding theory, a dazzling and bewildering lot of tricks, 
trimmings and rot on my own hook and, by imposing on the 
timid, fearful and thoughtless, (people use less common 
sense and think less in regard to religion than anything else) 
I would draw away a following of my own, to my own earth- 
ly glorification. And how could you show me that I hadn't 
the same right to glorify myself that you have, especially in 
a free government, dedicated, as Lincoln said, to the propo- 
sition that all men are created free and equal? How could 
you convince me that you were anything other than a foolish 
or hypocritical little man? You might force me, but I would 
bide my time to rebel and overthrow you; and why not, if 
my vanity and worldly ambition were mightier than my de- 
sire to please and glorify God. Let your mind wander back 
over the history of mankind with this thought before you, 
and see what you realize. 

So, my friend, you who have neither wealth nor the 
social position that so many deluded ones envy, as you see 
the elite in all their vanity entering what they 5 poor things, 
call the House of God, when you timidly creep in and take 
the seat assigned you in a back corner, and watch them 
craning their stiff necks to size up each other's finery, or 



THE ONLY WAY. 37 

you see those you know to be thieves looking pious and sad, 
trying to assume the angelic as they listen to high-salaried, 
over-fed rot— be not deceived. Lay not the blame on God 
and religion, for I am convinced that if Jesus himself, the 
humble carpenter from despised Nazareth, with Simon Peter, 
the common fisherman, and the rest of his poor and lowly 
apostles of the humbler walks of life, were to gain admis- 
sion to that palace of vanity, the whole company would be 
ignored utterly, and perhaps they would not be admitted at 
all. So be not discouraged. Christ's kingdom is not of this 
world, but of a greater world, a spiritual world. That is 
just why the ancient Jews, blinded by vanity, sin and hypoc- 
risy failed to recognize their Lord and King. And it is also 
why the hypocritical rich, whom you see from afar on Sun- 
days, getting into the line of carriages, all decked out in their 
jewels and fine raiment and gliding away to their mansions 
of idleness and sin, while their fellow men all around them 
shiver with cold and gnaw inwardly with hunger, are a bug- 
bear and a hindrance to the great cause of Christ. 

Why be against the Bible and its teachings in talk or 
deed unless someone can show you a greater book? Why ig- 
nore Christ's plan for human happiness and salvation, unless 
someone can show you a better or more practical plan? 
Nothing is good but it may be found in the Book. 

What does your little theory or philosophy amount to 
when you get it studied out? The same kind of a being that 
got it up will tear it down and substitute one of his own. 



33 THE ONLY WAY. 

The size of it all is, that those who ignore and make light of 
the Bible know very little about it; and, if they do happen 
to peep between the covers, their vain little minds at once 
begin to work on an argument to offset or refute whatever 
point they may have read. They do not unselfishly look at 
the whole great work in its vastness and grandeur; they do 
not study it for the sole purpose of learning how to better 
mankind and save their souls, but with an eye to making 
capital of it for their own earthly glory. It is a strange 
thing that a free people, with brains, who are so studious 
and diligent as to their worldly and personal glory, are so 
eternally ignorant, rambling and lax as to their own spirit- 
ual glory and the welfare of mankind at large. 

You can take an infant and mold it almost as you like ; 
you can instill things into its being, even if you let it go 
when very young, that are hard to change in its after life. 
You can fit it out with almost any variety of conscience and 
superssitions. And, besides, a conscience is readily lulled to 
sleep, and if it happens to awaken and whine a little it can 
be easily lulled to sleep again. 

"Our father worshiped in this mountain/ ' Thereby 
hangs the tale. We belong to this sect or that sect because 
our fathers did. We are especially prone to saunter along the 
same paths our fathers trod in religious matters. 

It is grounds for great rejoicing that in political affairs 
people are becoming more independent, and are thinking 
more and more for themselves each year. Let us hope and 



THE ONLY WAY. 39 

pray that in thinking of political conditions they will think 
deeply enough to realize that the only way to better them- 
selves politically is to raise the standard of righteousness 
among the people generally ; for, as we have said, a govern- 
ment can be no better than the bulk of its people. Then, 
upon realizing that indisputable fact, the next question is 
how to really awaken and better the people. Vv T hen you 
reach the point where you ask that question unselfishly and 
in earnest, and study it seriously, you will soon agree that 
Christianity is the remedy and the only remedy. 

The next question— seeing that we already have a con- 
siderable amount of so-called Christianity— is, what is wrong 
with our religion? How can it be made more effective? 
How can we make it answer the great purpose it is intended 
for and is capable of answering? 

If you should become aware that you need a remedy of 
some sort for a dangerous ailment, and then, after careful 
investigation and consideration, should arrive at the conclu- 
sion that such and such was the only cure, inasmuch as 
everything else had failed, what would you do? Would you 
hunt around for a substitute or an imitation, or would you 
dilute it until you had nothing but a worthless, strengthless 
liquid in the labeled bottle? No, you'd take the real thing, 
and you'd take it straight without spoiling it; you'd have 
too much sense to pour it all out but a drop or two and fill it 
with water or poison and then expect that drop and the la- 
bel on the bottle to cure you of your deadly ailment, 



40 THE ONLY WAY. 

But, "Our fathers worshiped in this mountain.' ' If your 
father allowed himself to be humbugged, or to drift with 
the stream, is that any argument why you should do the 
same? 

God bless our glorious country, and you, too, my friend, 
that you are a citizen of a land that has done so much and 
will do so much more to make possible the universal brother- 
hood of man. But is our equality and our free government 
the result of traveling in the beaten paths of monarchy, 
aristocracy and class? 

Have we heads of our own? Have we common sense? 
What are we doing with the talents intrusted to us? Am 1 
to cling to a lot of corrupt, rotten, unavailing stuff just be- 
cause someone put up with it before me, or because some 
other is so fond of following the line of least resistance, re- 
gardless of right, that he puts up with it now? If I do, 
where is my individuality, my brain, and my manhood? 

I am glad that the bell on the public school can be heard 
all over our land, for popular education is a long and neces- 
sary step in the right direction. It won't accomplish the 
end, but it makes the end possible. It means that all men 
are going to think for themselves. We are already being 
jostled to our senses, and very soon we are going to call a 
halt, then get together and take our bearings. If you don't 
believe it, look about over the world. We all know that 
something is wrong. We are all growing restless under the 
yoke of oppression, and when we go to work on the question 



THE ONLY WAY. 41 

this time we're going to get right at the heart of it, and use 
our reasoning powers. Moreover, it will be harder for am- 
bitious, overbearing and deceitful leaders to run away with 
us than it was a few centuries, or even a few decades ago. 

One great trouble in regard to religion is that so many 
of us are looking for some nice, fashionable, easy way to 
save our souls without giving up any of our worldliness or 
sin, and the result is that so much worldliness and human 
device have crept in, or been dragged into our churches, that 
it is hard for us to distinguish what is of God and what i3 of 
the Devil. We ought to begin to realize very forcibly that 
the teaching of Christ, which we must follow to save our 
souls from hell, is the same great teaching of brotherhood 
and love that we must follow to bring about the conditions 
and blessings we so much desire here below. But we have 
hundreds— think of it— hundreds of different sects, with all 
sorts of conflicting and clashing doctrines and notions. It 
would seem that of a certainty ravenous wolves have entered 
in and greatly confused and scattered the flock of Christ. 

Let us be thankful that the great common people are be- 
ginning to awaken, that the day is almost past when we are 
content to be the meek followers of a few who confuse and 
awe us with big words, and mysterious, high-sounding doc- 
trines and theories, and whose motives may or may not be 
good, but that we must know the why's and wherefore's 
ourselves, and that we, the people, have confidence in our 



42 THE ONLY WAY. 

ability to solve our problems for our ov/n collective good. 
'Tis well! 

I have no creed to offer you. I have no preference for 
one creed over another to urge upon you. I have no new 
church to commend to you. I have no new pet theory to ex- 
pound, I have no time or patience to argue that one sect is 
better than another. I do not claim to be a prophet, nor 
have I at any time held conversation with God or any of his 
holy angels. I am nothing more than a man, like every one 
else who struggles in this world of vanity and sin. I have 
nothing to offer you but God's Holy Word as he gave it to 
us long, long before our day. I commend you to no one or 
no thing but your Bible for light on these questions. 

It is my humble hope and prayer that I may live to see 
and help to bring about the day when all of God's people, 
everywhere, shall come together as one man and one church 
under the glorious banner of Jesus Christ our Lord; when 
they shall go out to fight the hosts of the devil with but one 
weapon— the Word of God — knowing and acknowledging that 
any other is the work of man; when God shall be glorified 
throughout the world through Jesus Christ, who died to 
save U3. 

That day will come, and in my poor judgment the time 
is not far distant when we shall unite and, in the name of 
Christ and that name alone, shall with new heart and new 
courage give praise to God. And how else can we unite but 
by going back to the Bible? To overcome the prejudice of 



THE ONLY WAY. 43 

centuries is no trifling matter. To cast aside the worldliness 
and works of man that have been creeping in for ages, can 
not be done in a minute. But, we can not worship God and 
the Devil; we can not be Christians and follow after men. 
We can not accomplish much if v/e mix a love for worldliness 
and sin with our professed love for Christ. ' 'Remember 
Lot's wife!" We are not true soldiers of righteousness if 
we mince words with the Devil. We can not be good Chris- 
tians unless we have the courage of our convictions. Think 
about it. 

And now permit me to say again, in conclusion, that af- 
ter all the masses are the power, and they will not always 
remain indifferent. For, just as God delivered his people 
from the oppression of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, just so 
will He deliver His people to-day from the clutches of the 
moneyed barons. Y/ise, indeed, is that statesman or politi- 
cian who casts his lot with the people. Wise, indeed, is he 
who espouses the cause of the masses, and wise is that papc r 
or periodical that voices the rights of humanity, for already 
the sun of corruption and fraud is sinking. 

What care we for party regularity and the dictations of 
unscrupulous bosses? What we want is more honest men who 
will represent our interests. There are several men who are 
prominent to-day as a result of their zeal in our interests, 
and in the future he who desires favors at our hands must 
show himself by deeds as well as talk, to be a true friend of 
the common people. 



44 THE ONLY WAY. 

The masses are long-suffering and slow to anger, but 
when once aroused they are a mighty force to deal with. It 
is all well enough to say that it's all right for the greedy to 
rob us whenever we cease to watch them, but I fail to see 
wherein it is honorable or just to take such advantage. I 
may walk up to a man in the guise of friendship and strike 
him in the face or even shoot him down. The fact that he 
allowed himself to be deceived or bluffed, or was not diligent 
to ascertain my motives, does not excuse me of my crime. 
If a few are allowed to ignore the laws and over-ride the 
rights of all, there can be no ' ' square deal, ' ' and no equal 
opportunity. 

It is of no benefit to the people of a nation that they are 
able, from afar, to feast their eyes on the vast estates and 
gorgeous possessions of a few over-rich nabobs, especially 
when such dazzling wealth is the result of the people's labor 
and toil. Far better that all that wealth should go, or re- 
main where it rightly belongs. I am not attacking the right 
of property. I believe that every man has a right to all the 
property he can acquire honestly, fairly, decently, and with- 
out crowding, pushing, squeezing or forcing his fellowmen. 
We must see to it that there are equal rights for all and 
special privileges for none, and just so soon as we really do 
this just that soon will the money of the nation cease to pile 
up in the coffers of a few. 

In Russia to-day the common people are clamoring for 
their rights. Those in authority (they gained that authority 



L. of o* 



THE ONLY WAY. 45 

by no virtue of their own), have gone just a mite too far 
and there must be a re-adjustment. In our own country, the 
oppression of the magnates is becoming too irksome ; their 
methods are too notoriously unfair, and we are beginning to 
clammor, for we are all directly affected. I do not wonder 
that we have so many strikes that are detrimental to the 
nation, and for which we, the people, suffer when so much 
of our money goes to enrich a few. We must destroy the 
means or make up for the lack of means that makes it pos- 
sible for a handful to do arbitrarily just as they like. We 
must open the doors of opportunity to the people. 

We are all beginning to realize that fair dealing, honesty 
and more regard for the rights of each other would be a 
great advantage to all of us. The wonderful discoveries and 
inventions of the last few years have no tendency whatever 
to better the quality of our manhood and womanhood. On 
the contrary, the effect as a whole has been demoralizing to 
society. We have increased the worldliness without corres- 
pondingly enhancing the spiritual welfare of humanity. 
These new conditions have practically all come about in the 
memory of men still living. Customs, conditions and senti- 
ment have greatly changed, but human nature has not 
changed. We are to-day asking the same question that Cain 
asked away back in the beginning, "Am I my brother's 
keeper?'' 

I would not do away with or retard our great worldly 
advancement. Far from it, for it is all the means to a great 



46 THE ONLY WAY. 

end, namely: Universal brotherhood. But I sometimes won- 
der if we are really any happier than were our simple- 
hearted fathers. 

There are families to-day living, for instance, in the 
mountains of Eastern Tennessee and Western North Caro- 
lina, numbers of them who have never been out of the 
county in which they live, and it is a fact that many of those 
people have never seen a train, a trolley-car, a telephone 
nor anything else other than the immediate surroundings of 
their simple, humble homes, and yet these people are the 
happiest people among us. For, after all, so far as each one 
of us is concerned, things are just as we see them. We all 
have our little view points. 

With these great advancements have come great respon- 
sibilities and great problems, and these problems are be- 
coming more serious each day. Compare the child of to-day 
with the child of fifty, twenty-five, or even ten years ago — 
what a difference! Compare the simple, honest mothers and 
girls of fifty years ago to the society women and the giddy, 
thoughtless girls of to-day. The men of to-day have gone 
wild in a greedy, headlong struggle for money and power; 
compare them with their fathers and grand- fathers. 

Yes, conditions have changed. Many of us look with 
scorn on the humble, simple ways of the men and women of 
the earlier period of this republic. But spiritually we, of to- 
day, are paupers compared to them. And yet, had conditions 
been the same in their day as they are in ours, they would 



THE ONLY WAY. 47 

have been precisely what we are. Men and nations come 
and go; they rise, they have their day, they fall, but God's 
law and God's Word is eternal. 

The trouble is that we are continually changing our code 
of morals and our religious laws to meet and satisfy the con- 
ditions and customs of the times, instead of making our cus- 
toms and conditions conform to the law. Representatives of 
our churches get together and vote to see if certain things 
that used to be sins haven't changed to virtues in some inex- 
plainable way. What a farce! Always dickering, always 
dallying and always toadying to the Devil. Instead of the 
pulpit influencing the benches, the benches or pews dictate 
to the pulpit. If it were wrong to drink, gamble or dance 
twenty or one thousand years ago, what makes it right now ? 
God's Word has not changed one iota. The miserable, weak- 
kneed, vascillating puppets have been and still are catering to 
hell, and selling the whole great cause to the Devil. Oh! 
for some fearless and mighty men to set the people on the 
right road to brotherhood, good government and happiness ! 
They're coming! Thank heaven! They're coming! 

God will not allow His people to remain in darkness, and 
stumble on in blindness when the true light shines so abund- 
antly, if they could and would but see it. Churches try- 
ing to unite on their man-made theories and superstitions — 
Hypocrites! There is but one way to unite, and that is on 
the Bible. Throw out all the accumulated rot of centuries, 
and go clear back to Christ and His apostles. Take a NEW 



48 THE ONLY WAY. 

start and universal brotherhood, peace and good- will are not 
far distant. 

How can you adjust the Bible to the world, when you 
must, if there be anything in the whole great plan, adjust 
the world to the Bible? How can you have love, fairness 
and peace if you alter and mar the only plan that can ever 
make it possible? Nothing but religion, and the religion of 
God, can truly reach men's souls, can make them honest, 
can make them really love each other. Nothing but this re- 
ligion of Christ can make and keep men and women pure 
and true. Without it, you can theorize, babble, fume and 
expound, and nothing will come of it but confusion, division 
and chaos. 

You can philosophize and theorize, use big words and 
write or talk in polished and cultured style until you become 
insane or die, and when it's all summed up, you've said noth- 
ing good, nor nothing that is beneficial to mankind that is 
not embraced in the teachings of true Christianity, and when 
you have taught anything contrary to this great doctrine of 
equality, love and brotherhood, you have opposed and re- 
tarded the advancement of mankind. 

Tyrants rob and oppress us, magnates squeeze us and 
use our money as capital to enrich themselves. Those in 
their employ durst not cheep or they lose their jobs. Our 
representatives sell us out. We trick, cheat and loot each 
other. Corruption abounds in all departments. To every 
big thief there are a thousand little thieves and those who 



THE ONLY WAY. 49 

would be thieves if they had a real good opportunity. We 
all know these things, but ivhat are you going to dot It is all 
right to tell us we are wrong, and to point out your ideal 
way. What good does it do us? We want a practical, ap- 
plicable remedy — one that will bring results. It is well to 
give publicity to frauds and swindles as a warning, so that 
the public need not be gulled. But over much publicity for 
crime has a great tendency to degrade the people. Every 
day we read big, flashing headlines and harrowing details of 
crime. Generally speaking, we have come to look on such 
matters with indifference. The effect is bad. As an exam- 
ple, we read of the debauchery and crime of some degraded 
person, then go to a theatre, pay our money and gaze in ad- 
miration at a woman who is a disgrace to womanhood, or at 
a man who ought to be spurned out of the community. Pub- 
licity for their crimes is a food the wretches thrive on. Of 
course, they are no worse than many others. "What have 
we to do with thee?" said the devils. Let us alone in our 
corruption and filth, is the cry. 

''Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to 
any people/, — Pro v. 14-34. We can not be a successful na- 
tion, a happy nation and a lasting nation unless we adhere 
to righteousness. We can not solve the great problems that 
are puzzling us unless we are righteous. We must raise the 
standard of our citizenship ; we must enhance the average 
goodness. We can only do this by bettering the individuals 
who make up the masses. We can better the individuals 



SO THE ONLY WAY. 

only by true religion. The only religion that can bring the 
desired results is Christianity, and the only way Christianity 
can do it is for us to get together, divest it of all its man- 
made trimmings, and unite on it as it is given us in the 
Bible. 

Be not deceived. We can not long continue to run a free 
government on the proposition: Do others or they'll do you, 
or do others before they do you. The only way to be truly 
successful and happy is to be good. Read, and ponder well 
over all that philosophers, sages and thinkers of all times 
have said, then turn to your Bibles and study there. Be not 
confused by the wisdom of men, but go direct to the WORD 
OF GOD. 

Therein lies our only salvation, both in the hereafter 
and NOW. 



liillilliill* 
OKI 653 957 6 



